Encyclopedia of

Abigail Adams Biography

Born: November 22, 1744
Weymouth, Massachusetts
Died: October 28, 1818
Quincy, Massachusetts
American political advisor and first lady

Though she believed her main role in life to be wife and mother, Abigail
Adams also was a behind-the-scenes stateswoman. She used her talents to
maintain her family during the many absences of her husband, John Adams,
the second president of the United States, and to advise her husband about
women's rights and slavery. Her detailed letters with her husband,
family, and friends provide a historical record of the times and show her
to have been a woman ahead of her time.

Early life

Abigail Smith was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, on November 11, 1744,
to William and Elizabeth Quincy Smith. Her well-educated father was the
minister of the North Parish Congregational Church of Weymouth. Although
many of Abigail's relatives were well-to-do merchants and ship
captains, she was raised in a simple, rural setting. She was educated at
home, learning domestic skills, such as sewing, fine needle-work, and
cooking, along with reading and writing. She took advantage of her
father's extensive library to broaden her knowledge. Her lack of
formal education became a life-long regret. As an adult, she favored
equal education for women. She once argued that educated mothers raise
educated children.

On October 25, 1764, Abigail married John Adams, a struggling,
Harvard-educated country lawyer nine years her senior. Although John
Adams was not from a prominent family, the couple was well matched
intellectually and the marriage was a happy one. He admired and
encouraged Abigail's outspokenness and intelligence. She
supported him by running the family farm, raising their children,
listening to him, and trying to help him with his problems.

Early political years

During the first few years of their marriage, John Adams lived mostly in
Boston, Massachusetts, building his law career and becoming involved
with the growing political unrest. This political unrest was brought
about by the English government's attempts to tighten control
over its colonies through the passage of laws and new taxes that many
colonists did not support. Abigail, however, remained at Braintree
(later Quincy), Massachusetts, to run the family farm. Although women at
that time did not normally handle business affairs, Abigail traded
livestock, hired help, bought land, oversaw construction, and supervised
the planting and harvesting. "I hope in time to have the
reputation of being as good a Farmess as my partner has of being a good
Statesman," she once wrote.

During the next few years, hostilities between the American colonies and
Great Britain increased, forcing John Adams away from home more often.
He was chosen as a delegate to the First Continental Congress. (The
congress was a group of colonial representatives who met in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 5, 1774, and took a stand
against the British government's policy of passing laws over the
colonists without colonial representation.) He traveled constantly in
addition to those duties, trying to earn as much money as he could
practicing law. He tried to make these difficult times easier by writing
long letters to Abigail, sometimes several a day. She, in turn, wrote to
her husband of her own loneliness, doubts, and fears. She suffered from
migraines and chronic insomnia. Despite her own bouts with illness, she
gave birth to five children. One daughter, Susanna, born in 1768, lived
for only a year.

War affects the family

When the Revolutionary War (1775–83) began with the battles of
Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts on April 17, 1775, John Adams was
called back to the Continental Congress. On June 15, 1775, the Second
Continental Congress made George Washington commander in chief of the
American army. The Congress also set up a government for the colonies. A
year later, on July 4, 1776, the Congress approved the Declaration of
Independence, in which the American colonies declared their independence
from the government of Great Britain. During the war Abigail provided
meals and lodging to soldiers who stopped at the Adams' home at
all hours of the day

Abigail Adams.
Courtesy of the

National Portrait Gallery

.

and night. In the fall of 1775, the inhabitants of Braintree suffered
an epidemic of dysentery, an often-fatal bowel infection. Abigail had to
nurse her sick relatives in addition to caring for her children. Her
mother and five other members of her family eventually died from the
illness.

As the fighting drew closer to Boston, Abigail Adams wrote many letters
describing the events of the time. In a letter written in March 1776,
she urged her husband to take women's rights into consideration
if and when the colonies gained independence: "In the new code of
laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you
would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them
than your ancestors … If particular care and attention is not
paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment [promote] a rebellion,
and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice
or representation."

John Adams is sent to Europe

As the war continued, John Adams was sent to Europe to work on treaties
with other countries and to seek loans for the colonies. He took one or
two of his sons on these assignments, which continued after the war
ended, giving America its independence from Great Britain in 1883. These
constant separations were difficult for Abigail Adams, but she supported
her husband. She wrote that she "found his honor and reputation
much dearer to [her] than [her] own present pleasure and
happiness."

After five years, Abigail and her daughter, Nabby, joined her husband
and sons in England. During the years in Europe, Abigail acted as
hostess for both political and social gatherings and as an advisor to
her husband. In April 1788, five years after Abigail's arrival,
the family returned home.

John Adams is elected

After the American Revolution ended, the newly independent country of
the United States needed a president. When the votes were counted in
March 1789, George Washington (1732–1799) was the clear
presidential winner. At the time, the person with the most votes became
president, while the person with the next largest number became vice
president. John Adams placed second and became vice president. Although
Abigail Adams had been upset by her husband's earlier political
assignments, which forced him to be away from home for years at a time,
she fully supported his decision to accept the vice presidency. The
family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where the federal government
was located at the time. Abigail assumed the role of hostess, welcoming
visitors to the Adams's home. However, she returned to Braintree
the next spring with her son, Thomas, who had fallen ill.

When Washington retired in 1797, John Adams ran for president and won
the election. His wife joined him in Philadelphia in May. Abigail Adams
quickly settled in as first lady; her husband discussed many important
problems with her and often followed her advice. Abigail kept writing
letters to friends and even continued managing the Quincy (formerly
Braintree) farm through correspondence with her sister, Mary Cranch.

Whereas John Adams had never been in finer spirits, Abigail Adams became
exhausted and ill with fever on a trip home to Quincy in the summer of
1797. This led to yet another separation when the president returned to
Philadelphia in November. Abigail eventually recovered and returned to
Philadelphia the next year, staying for the rest of her husband's
term.

Retirement to Quincy

After losing his bid for reelection in 1800, John Adams retired to life
on the farm. Abigail Adams continued to keep herself busy maintaining
her home. The family remained plagued with illness. Both Mary Cranch and
her husband died within days of each other. Nabby Adams had been
diagnosed with cancer and underwent an operation.
John Adams injured his leg in an accident and was unable to walk for
several weeks. As always, Abigail Adams cared for them all.

In October of 1818, Abigail Adams suffered a stroke. She died quietly on
October 28, 1818, surrounded by her family. John Adams lived several
more years, passing away on July 4, 1826. Abigail Adams has the
distinction of being the first woman in U.S. history to be the wife of
one president (John Adams) and the mother of another (John Quincy Adams
[1767–1848]).